It’s been a little over 4 years since we saw Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker tearing up the competition together in college for the Huskies. It was Walker’s junior year and Lamb’s freshman year when they won the National Championship. They led the team in scoring and were pivotal parts in the championship run.
They both entered the NBA in very different ways. Kemba was drafted by a Bobcats team that immediately had him impacting the team. Lamb, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to get any significant playing time in the NBA yet and hasn’t found a place where he can utilize his talents. Charlotte might be that place now.
Just the other day, I talked about how Kemba might never find his place as a premier point guard in the NBA. I highlighted that one big reason for his inability to stake his claim as an elite point guard was the lack of help on the wing. One person I failed to mention that could possibly fill that shooting guard role is Jeremy Lamb.
Last year, Jeremy Lamb rarely received court time until the end of the season. He is a very streaky scorer. He’ll either miss 10 shots in a game, or only miss 2 or 3. It’s hard to put someone in the lineup on a nightly basis with that kind of inconsistency.
But, even with this being said, I do believe Lamb could work very well on this Hornets team if he is put in the right situation and isn’t forced to take so few or so many shots in a given game. I believe if you give him a definitive number of shots you want him to take in a game, then he’ll prove to be more consistent with his shot.
A stat I just computed that I find very interesting that supports my point is this:
Last year, Jeremy Lamb shot only 41.6% from the field, which is quite poor. But, in games where he attempted more than 5 shots and less than 10, Lamb shot 49.0% from the field.
So, if Jeremy Lamb plays around 32 minutes per game and is asked to shoot around 7 or 8 shots per game, you should expect him to shoot a very solid percentage. I believe that Jeremy Lamb can fit very well into that shooting guard role for the Hornets in the starting lineup and can help get Charlotte back into the playoffs.
